Hindu organisations call for transition to clean energy

Washington: Ahead of the crucial Paris climate summit, several Hindu organisations have issued a joint climate change declaration, calling for a complete transition to clean energy as rapidly as possible.

“A transition towards using 100 per cent clean energy is desperately needed, as rapidly as is possible in every nation,” the declaration, signed by over 60 Hindu organisations and spiritual leaders including head of Art of Living Foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), said.

The ‘Hindu Declaration on Climate Change’ was authored by the Bhumi Project and the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, with support from the Hindu American Foundation (HAF).

Making the transition to clean energy provides the only basis for sustainable, continued human development and is the best hope for billions of people without electricity or clean cooking facilities to live better lives and reduce poverty, the declaration said.

Issued in Boston, ahead of the Paris Summit on Climate Change beginning November 30, the declaration said strong, meaningful action must be taken, at both the international and national level to prevent climate change.

“Such action must be scientifically credible and historically fair, based on deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through a transition away from polluting technologies, especially away from fossil fuels,” it said.

“Political leaders, faith leaders, and scientists from around the nation and the world need to come together to combat climate disruption,” Kumar Barve, Chairman of the Maryland House Environment and Transportation Committee, said.

“We must work globally for strong carbon reductions goals in the near term and toward total carbon neutrality for future generations,” he said.

“We must consider the effects of our actions not just on ourselves and those humans around us, but also on all beings. We have a dharmic duty for each of us to do our part in ensuring that we have a functioning, abundant, and bountiful planet,” the declaration said.